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Height matters

15 January 2000

By Hazel Muir

TALL men are more likely to have children than their vertically challenged friends because women find height attractive, a new study shows. The preference may be putting evolutionary pressure on men, even today.

In an earlier study, evolutionary psychologist Robin Dunbar of the University of Liverpool trawled through lonely hearts adverts to find which attributes men and women like in their partners (New Scientist, 11 February 1995, p 26). He noticed that men only put their height in their ads if they are tall. “Men never say `I’m a 5-foot-2 Danny DeVito look-alike’,” says Dunbar. “You only …